PHILADELPHIA — Willy Adames entered Monday night’s game with a .186 average and no homers through his first two weeks in orange and black. It would be easy to assume that Adames is pressing to try and live up to the largest contract in Giants franchise history, but he smiled late Monday night and said that hasn’t been the case.
“I was getting kind of worried,” he joked. “I thought I lost my power.”
Adames could slump for another two weeks, or even two months, and still know that his name will be displayed prominently on the lineup card every night. But that’s not the case for everyone, including the man who moved across the dirt when the Giants signed Adames in December.
Tyler Fitzgerald also entered Monday’s game without a homer. He was hitting just .237, and he was very aware of the fact that he had driven in just one run through his first dozen appearances.
Fitzgerald briefly turned into Barry Bonds last summer, but there’s not a lot of track record to lean on. After hitting a game-swinging three-run homer early in a 10-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, Fitzgerald admitted that he has thought about the patience that has been shown by the staff this month.
“Last year I probably would have been gone,” he said. “It was just a shorter leash at times. I did enough last year to where they are able to stick with me. It’s a confidence boost, for sure.”
Fitzgerald showed more than enough last summer to earn a prolonged look at second base this season, but he’s also benefiting from organizational changes. The Giants haven’t made a roster move through 16 games of the Buster Posey Era, and the new president of baseball operations is high on Fitzgerald.
The Giants have other options at second base, including Casey Schmitt, who has swung the bat well. But there have been no hints in recent days that Fitzgerald had anything to worry about. The Giants have been happy to keep sending him out there every day and wait for the breakout.
It finally came Monday, when Fitzgerald finished a single shy of the cycle. The biggest swing resulted in a three-run homer in a six-run top of the second that immediately wiped out a three-run deficit from the first inning. Fitzgerald’s blast was followed by Adames’ solo shot, his first as a Giant.
FITZ FOR THE LEAD 💥 pic.twitter.com/DoteyB76TU
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 14, 2025
The Giants have gotten to a dozen wins with very little from their middle infielders, who have the potential to combine for 50 homers. They also have gotten little from the bottom of the lineup other than Wilmer Flores, who drove in yet another run Monday. That has weighed on Fitzgerald, who generally hits ninth.
“It’s about time that the bottom of the lineup kind of steps up for the top of the lineup,” he said, smiling. “I’m just happy to participate in the runs. We have some guys carrying us so far this season, like Flo and Jung Hoo [Lee], and it’s important for some other guys to step up now and then.”
Before the start of the series, manager Bob Melvin talked about how it’s seemingly a couple of guys leading the way every night. In New York, Lee put the team on his back, but he was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts Monday. It didn’t at all matter.
Fitzgerald drove in three runs and scored three, and Mike Yastrzemski had a two-run insurance homer and an RBI double. Yastrzemski has been hot all year, so much so that he’s now hitting leadoff, but Fitzgerald has been trying to get rid of some bad habits since the Giants were in Scottsdale.
“I’ve been doing a lot of high tee [drills] to try and swing downward. Barry actually helped me with that the last homestand,” he said. “I’m just trying to get on top of the ball. As you can see, with just that thought, I’m able to backspin balls better. I’m trying to stay with it and get rid of some of those bad habits I had and some of the swing-and-miss I had before.”
Fitzgerald raised his OPS by more than 200 points on the first night in Philadelphia. His numbers are now in line with the ones he put up last year, when he was one of the best stories of the season. The swing was slow to come around this year, but he said he has gotten plenty of support within the clubhouse, all of which gave him “peace of mind.” That made it a lot easier to just focus on the work every afternoon and not the possibility of ending up back in Triple-A.
“At the same time, it’s the big leagues and I have to produce,” he said. “There are going to be weeks at a time when I’m struggling or someone else is struggling, [but] the coaching staff has stuck with me. It’s really awesome to see.”
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